Santa Elena, Tuesday

Tue 31st 2254 Well things have turned around a bit. As I write this it's blowing what sounds like (but probably isn't) a gale outside and it feels vaguely like the world is ending, but I think it's normal - it was probably like this last night too.

Kept waking up during night (feeling quite warm and cosy, but also dreading having to get up on 715 alarm to "do stuff" ). I did snooze on it for ten mins but dragged myself up, got dressed, went and had half decent included breakfast (bit of fruit, scrambled eggs and toast) on the very nice balcony with a good view and an open area at one end (which a presumably wild coati visited towards the end of breakfast).

I am still dubious about the check in fuckup but I have extended (tonight; telling this out of sequence) to stay here Fri and Sat nights now. I have free cancellation until midnight but am unlikely to cancel. TBH I probably *don't* need that much time here, but it gives me a bit of slack and means I can start investigating/booking things like maybe that trip to Tillaran (from memory) via Lake Arenal with a fixed date in mind.

Got picked up by shuttle bus no problem (about 0840 IIRC; incidentally warm and sunny out but cold in the wind, I put my fleece on) and got to park maybe 0910-20ish. Have a feeling two of the travellers I earwigged on at rest stop Monday morning were on this bus too, but I didn't really get a great look at them (why would I?) and I may be wrong.

No real problems at the park, gratuitous "no to sexual harassment, law nnnn" sign at the entrance (FFS, it's a forest. Am I really expected to believe it has ever been a hotbed of unacceptable macho etc etc etc behaviour with the local lotharios down there to grope all the female visitors?) and indeed no single use plastic allowed, but they *didn't* search our bags and once we paid the 10k entrance fee (modest queue) and filled in a slightly pointlessly intrusive questionnaire on a computer on our own (it would have been easy to lie and not be caught, but I didn't) giving name/passport no/etc, we (I) were just into the park with no faff and allowed to wander at will.

Mock poster showing some "villains" of the park, including a chunky looking tarantula, in the cafe bit on the way through to park. I kept my eyes open but didn't see any; I guess they only come out at night. I don't think I actually saw a spider in the park, although I did see a biggish (5-10cm-ish; I do have a photo with my foot for scale) centipede/millipede on the path.

I did happen to be behind a guided party on the very first leg on my walk so I heard the guide explain that some things that looked like tree trunks (about 4-ish inches diameter) were in fact just the roots of plants - I do have a picture of this.

I did the long caño negro trail first (nice viewpoint looking out at Arenal volcano) and after that did probably 90ish% of the other trails - the last hour or so before the last bus at 4pm was a bit hurried but apart from that although I was walking a lot I did stop now and then to take the atmosphere in etc.

Very nicely done really - the trails are clearly visible (though they could do with add signposts to *all* routes at some of the 3-way junctions) and well-maintained, but not (especially on the caño negro trail) so well groomed as to feel like a garden.

About a couple of hours before returning I came across a group of people staring up into the trees so I did the same and eventually saw a monkey up there. As I was on the way out a few hundred m from exit I also came across another group, including those two travellers I think were on bus yesterday, and they said there were monkeys so I spoke to them a tiny bit and watched the monkeys (including one with a baby on its back) before we headed for the exit.

Got bus back no problem, the (I assume) drivers' two kids were sitting immediately behind him on the bus - maybe 7-8yo-ish boys - and I was oddly chuffed to be able to understand their banter as they were playing some kind of game on a mobile phone ("I said you wouldn't be able to do it" sort of thing.) Bus left about 1605 and I got dropped in centre of Santa Elena maybe 1630.

I went to a BCR cash machine, withdrew 200k (but I could have had dollars here, and I may get some more before I leave) and I don't think I got charged a fee (Starling app showed an exactly 200k withdrawal when I got back to hostel). Woohoo, and I take back what I said yesterday. I also got the whole 200k in 10k notes, which if a little bulky was still on the whole a pleasant surprise.

I had tried to be "present" while walking round the forest and was to some extent but was also feeling moderately optimistic and had been doing some planning, including idea of wding that cash, and had decided I would probably give the ziplining thing a go. So after getting cash I popped into the tourist office I'd been in yesterday. (Which reminds me - the shuttle to Santa Elena Cloud Forest reserve was much better than they had led me to believe. I paid 4k when I got on, that also got me a return ticket and the driver didn't ask and no one said "I want to return at time X" so it was open-ended, which made for a less stressful time, though given I'm on a long-ish trip and was enjoying it I was fairly sure after the first hour ro so I would stay til 4pm.)

I asked about non-adrenaline-rush tours (honestly, this gale-pulling-at-the-roof noise is vaguely disconcerting) and although I'm not 100% sure I trust the guy (he did a mild hard sell "book now as it's selling up fast" , but since it turned out I didn't have to put down a deposit and I can cancel for free - I may be expected to go to office to cancel, but not sure it's strictly necessary, more a courtesy, I didn't sign anything after all - I decided to let myself be sold to) he said this one wasn't all that intense, that you get a brake on the cable thingy to control your speed and that they have a couple of trial ones you do (can do?) first and if you back out after those you don't pay (I do wonder if this is true, but push comes to shove if I give it a go and then back out and lose my money I'm happy-ish to write it off to experience). There's some sort of tarzan swing thing but that's optional.

It's USD59 which feels about what I was expecting but also a smidge steep. Still, it's acceptable and I do kind of want to do this etc etc. I picked the 11am slot so being picked up tomorrow at hostel at 10:20; this will let me have breakfast, let it settle a bit and faff around trying to decide what to wear. I asked about wind and he said this is nothing, it was much windier last week. I also asked about cold and he was a bit vague. Guy I spoke to tonight suggested I could wear my fleece over the top of the harness, and/or tie it round my waist. Slightly more worrying is tour office guy said that although you can do what you want, they "recommend" you don't wear glasses. Since I won't see anything if I don't, I will almost certainly wear mine, and perhaps see if I can contrive a bit of ugly but fuck it string to tie them round my neck as a safety measure. Wearing a cap is probably also out (it might come off, plus they may give you a helmet, I am not sure), but I will probably try not to give a fuck about looking like a twat and wear (or at least take, as an option) my bandanna as a head scarf covering thing, because I can stuff that in a trouser pocket if I take it off, and if I don't take it off it *probably* won't come loose (to be fair, cap probably wouldn't either) and if it did it would be a shame but less of a pisser than losing the cap.

I then went to Raulito's and got a (seemingly rather generous portion) of roast chicken and chips, breaking a 10k and not ordering a drink. I then popped into supermarket and got some Takis Fuego and a 1.8l carton of milk (both of which I consumed in my room about half an hour ago) and broke another 10k and popped back to hostel.

Feeling a bit harried I booked the two extra nights here (I may have to change room and it's contradictory if I have a private bathroom, but that's fine) and took photos off camera memory card and popped back out for the night viewing at ranario.

That was a lot better tonight, helped in part by a guide sort of being around (though I wasn't clear if I was allowed to tag onto his group). There were quite a few people, which was a good job actually as it was mildly creepy being in there in the dark with just a torch - something huge looking scuttled rapidly off the concrete when I first when in and turned my torch on, I suspect it was actually a cockroad plus a long shadow but who knows.

I did manage to spot the odd frog myself and with the guide and the other visitors finding them and me watching them I saw a fair amount this time. There was a moderately sized spider running around on one of the brick walls below the tanks (photoed it) and also an enormously long-legged spindly harvester (ditto, if it worked). I also while standing in front of the red-eyed frog tank am 99% sure I had a spider dangling on a thread from the front of my cap, but I didn't freak out and (not quite sure how) got rid of it. Brief conversation with an English guy in front of that tank who said he'd been out with a professional photographer looking at some frogs the other night (apparently he puts them in the fridge to slow them down), and who also said there's a butterfly place somewhere nearby where you can "play with bugs" (his words).

Anyway, I stayed there maybe an hour and then came back to hostel. Two people speaking in English in kitchen just outside my room, I said hi and came in, then when one of them left I popped back out and asked the remaining guy if he knew anything about this night walk - apparently he's doing it tomorrow and the girl had just gone off to do it, so I may be able to get some info on this tomorrow. We had quite a long chat and I then came into room and gorged myself and washed a couple of tops and am going to bed soon after a shower (been waiting for camera battery to charge).

However, early in conversation with that bloke I was saying about spiders and he pointed down at the bottom of the door to one of the rooms off the kitchen and said "there's a big one down there", and there was! It wasn't absolutely enormous but I'd say it would be about as large as anything I've ever seen in the UK, perhaps larger. I was surprisingly undisturbed (which isn't to say not at all disturbed) by it and had a close look and went and got my camera to photograph it (though scale is probably hard to judge). Vaguely disconcerted at the way it subsequently squeezed itself under the room door! I've put a towel down at the bottom of my door although in reality the door doesn't fit super tightly anyway and one could have come in here during the day etc. Still, the towel makes me feel a bit better. I don't much relish the prospect of finding something like that in my room and I'd be lying if I said I was utterly unfazed, but I'm not massively preoccupied by the possibility. Fingers crossed it won't happen and if it does I'll just have to deal with it. Definitely sleeping with the light on though!

So overall a fairly successful day I think. Right now I'm not too edgy about the zipline thing, but I'm sure I'll feel a little nervy tomorrow. I am also kind of looking forward to it. If I did that and the night walk thing I could probably claim with a straight face to have been fairly braved and faced my fears a bit here.

I *still* think Santa Elena itself is a bit of an overpriced tourist trap, but the forest was very cool - the views from the top of the observation tower, which I went up about an hour before leaving, are extremely impressive and while I'm wavering a bit in saying this, probably going to be one of the highlights of the trip. It's also kind of why I came to Monteverde in the first place, so no matter what else happens I have managed to get that done. Depending on how other things pan out, I may go back to the forest for another full day - I could easily have a day or two with nothing major I want/need to do, and it's enjoyable, cheap and some much-needed exercise and I think another visit wouldn't hurt - I could walk the remaining parts of the trails I missed, and I could feel more relaxed about eg staring at the various views without feeling I was missing out on the not-yet-seen parts.

2358 Courageously had lukewarm shower; to be fair it's not *that* cold in the room, but still required a small dose of fortitude. About to get into bed. If I forgot to say earlier I asked about wind and ziplining and the tour office guy said this wasn't windy, last week was windy.